Hi Kurt How are you doing? hope you fine and all good .I build breeding cage divided into 6 compartments for pairing and breeding the size same as Uğur Büyükölmez breeding cages in his photos two of my hens after laying the first egg they cant walk , more like their legs paralysed i had this problem before with a hen in the coop . do have any idea why this is happening ? thanks regards

Hi Haydar,Good news is I don't think they are sick.It sounds like they have Calcium deficiency.If you are not already giving them make sure the breeders always have an access to grit.If you can find calcium pills (especially the ones with Vitamin D in it also) as small as a pill as possible, I would make them swallow one.If the pill is large cut it in to smaller pieces and give them one that is one eights of an inch size.If you can make sure after cutting the pills the edges are not sharp it would be good to prevent cancer by accident.Make sure the pills do not include any other chemicals or ingredients in them.If one pill doesn't fix it give one more the next day and you should see improvement.A while ago, I ran into powder version of it in a vitamin store that was designed for people to mix it into their drinks and it works perfect if you can find it.It is a bit though to melt it in water but it works with a little effort.Also, if you can provide parsley periodically to your birds you will avoid this problem.Make sure to wash the parsley thoroughly before giving them.Sometimes there are some pesticide residue on them at the store.

Hi, Kurts right i had a hen go of her legs after laying a couple of weeks ago even tho i have grit and minerals in front of them 24/7. I always have a tub of calcium tablets in the cupboard. They are quite large so i break them in 4 and give 1 piece per day till she gets walking again. Steve...

I use the same type of pills Steve.I have to cut it in many pieces to give it to the hens.Sometimes having all the supplements in front of the birds still doesn't cut it as you mentioned.Some birds just don't eat it and some eat a lot but the body can only process so much and much of what's eaten goes out the other end.This is especially true if there is not enough supplement of Vitamin D with the Calcium.With out it the body doesn't utilize the calcium at all.For this reason I prefer parsley. It provides both of them in the same time and at a pretty decent ratio.On top of other goodies it offers.

Haydar,I get the calcium with the vitamin D from the local drug store or the grocery store.Nothing special really.I am sure Oz is pretty similar to the States when it comes to shopping